Most people will look at you and scoff, they'll tell you the answer is simple: to just start writing again. They'll say that it doesn't matter with what, you can start with the most nonsensical phrases and continue writing until something useful comes out of it, and you'll slowly find yourself out of writer's block for good.

But if you're anything like me, you'll simply sit down at your computer, or your journal, or whatever you use to write with, and you'll be so indecisive and lost, that you'll find it nearly impossible to even do that.

So you will listen to others, who will then tell you to read through other people's writing: essays and short stories, anything quick that can inspire you and get you going. They want you to find a spark in someone else's fire, but it can sometimes be discouraging to walk by and admire other people's campfires when your own fire pit is damp and useless. This is to say: it's hard to find inspiration when you see everyone else doing what you want to do, but ten times better, and seemingly without all the effort.

So you flip through your own work discouragingly, and you'll find yourself running through a large valley of self doubt and regret. You'll find yourself buying new journals to see if that will change something, you'll try new writing softwares or different music as you write. You'll get superstitious, you'll pull out the lucky pair of socks or the favorite pen, you'll find yourself desperate.

You'll write a hundred first lines, a hundred more butchered out second and third lines, and then you'll erase them all and start again. You'll stare at a blank page of paper for longer than you'd care to admit, and you'll start to wonder why you're even doing this.

You'll put the pen away, you'll shut your laptop, and you'll find yourself staring at the ceiling of your bedroom, and you'll realize that the only thing you need is time, and the only advice you need is to be patient.

But if you're anything like me, you'll be an hour away from your deadline, completely out of patience, and still without words. You'll look through other people's writing, you'll look through your own, you'll panic. Take a deep breath, sit up comfortably in bed, and simply start by writing about how other people have told you how to get out of writer's block, and take it from there.

You'll suddenly realize that you've done exactly what you said never worked. You'll remember that writing never works as expected, and that not everything you write has to be perfect either. Don't beat yourself up or dwell over it; simply remember that every word you write, even the ones you'll throw away later, will get you one step closer to a finished project, but every word you don't just leaves you with empty pages.

But maybe don't wait until the last minute next time, okay?